States Focus on Improving Health Care in Rural America

The National Governors Association has selected six states—Alabama, Arizona, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri and Oregon—to participate in a project called Improving Health in Rural America: Addressing the Leading Causes of Death. Specifically, states will develop and implement specific strategies to address one of the five leading causes of death in rural areas.

The five leading causes of death include heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory diseases, unintentional injuries and stroke, which altogether accounted for 61 percent of deaths nationwide in 2015. Americans living in rural areas are disproportionately affected by these conditions.

Each state will create and implement an action plan, with the goal of improving health outcomes of rural populations that experience higher rates of potentially preventable conditions. At the end of the project, states will report outcomes to their governors.

To learn more about the NGA Center for Best Practices Health Division, click here.